Tuesday, February 24, 1998Last modified at 11:31 p.m. on Monday, February 23, 1998

Grammy nomination could clinch impressive comeback for Fogerty

Knight-Ridder

Because John Fogerty has never won a Grammy Award, it would be nice if that oversight were corrected this Wednesday, when he's up for two of them. That would also provide a nice exclamation mark for one of the most solid comebacks in rock 'n' roll history.

Since his Hall of Fame band Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up in 1972, Fogerty had been in musical hibernation, except for a few cameos and promising-but-brief sightings in 1976 and 1986-87.

Then last year, he returned with a new album, "Blue Moon Swamp," and a tour that blew the doors off buildings.

"So death is a great career move," says Fogerty, laughing. "Especially if you don't have to actually die to enjoy it."

Grammy or not, Fogerty will definitely get one honor this week: the Gibson Guitar Lifetime Achievement Award, presented at 10:30 a.m. today at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York. The event raises money for the Nordhoff-Robbins Foundation for Music Therapy, which helps severely disabled children.

In Fogerty's case, it could also reflect the fact he has made himself into a much better guitarist.

"I just realized I was in my 40s and I wasn't that much better than I was 15 years earlier. It was one of those `If not now, when' kind of things."

So he started practicing. "To me, Chet Atkins is the best, and I don't figure I'll ever be in his league. But I admired guys like James Burton, too. ... So I started learning to do things like bend notes."

No magic trick here. Just work. So the Gibson award fits him in a couple of ways.

"I had a great 1968 Les Paul Custom that I played for the first time on `Bad Moon Rising,' " he recalls. "I also used it on `Around the Bend,' `Who'll Stop the Rain,' a lot of Creedence songs. I'm not a one-radio-station kind of guy, so I've found some happiness with a Fender Strat, too. But I've always had Gibsons."

In fact, he got his latest for the 1997 tour.

"You can't take your $30,000 Les Paul Custom on the road, so Mike McGuire of Gibson built me a new one."

He showcased it on "Walking in a Hurricane," one of the "Blue Moon Swamp" songs that was especially satisfying because it helped Fogerty cross the highest hurdle for a vintage rocker: getting the crowd to listen to new material, not just classics.

"I was blown away on that tour," says Fogerty.

"It took me three or four weeks to absorb it. I'd play `Born on the Bayou' and the other opening numbers and I'd feel this ... wave come back at me from the audience. It was an intensity I couldn't imagine."